Evidence
by Axellia
Summary: When a night at a club goes wrong again, the team are left to find out what happened and why. But can it be done without someone getting hurt? CSI Cheryl Part 2 COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Well, this is part 2 in the CSI Cheryl series. I'd recommend reading part 1, which was a um, re-write of Lost Son, to set the scene. I'm not expecting reviews or anything. I write for the hell of it. If y'all fancy it though, go for it… I suppose input would be nice. Anyhoos, just enjoy(!)

Oh, yeah, I totally own CSI in every sense of the word, Las Vegas, Miami, and New York… and the games, books and all other merchandise. Even the characters… they're mine, all mine. (!) Ax

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Cheryl was stood in the lab, running a DNA test on a suspect of the B&E she was working on, and singing along to Nickelback on her mp3 player. She had been back at work for two weeks after her 'time-out,' having been given a clean bill of health of the police psychiatrist. She was also doing everything in her power to avoid Horatio. She wasn't ready to deal with that bombshell yet. The only people who knew, as far as she could tell, were herself, Horatio, Calleigh, Valera and Speed.

Both Cheryl and Speed had not been at work, thanks to the shooting they had been involved in. They had both been shot, although Speed had come out in a worse state than she had, and consequently, they had ended up spending a lot of time together. He'd told her about the team, and his past, and in turn, she'd told him about hers, (or at least, a fair chunk of it). And he'd finally accepted her age, although he still claimed at twenty-three, she was the youngest ever CSI.

She was still singing along, although this time to a slightly less respectable Britney Spears song, bopping around the lab as she carried on with the test, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around, nearly dropping the syringe she was holding, to find herself staring at Speed.

'Jesus Christ!' She yelped, yanking her headphones out.

'Not quite,' he smiled at her. 'Britney? I thought you had better taste than that?'

'Hey, I'll listen to anything, as you well know. What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be back for a couple of days.'

'I know. I came into listen to a lecture of H about cleaning my gun. Thought I'd stop by and see if you want to go out tonight.'

'Where?'

'There's this new club opening on the beach front. Illusions. Calleigh and Delko are up for it.'

'Sure. I'll be done soon anyways.'

'What are you doing?'

Cheryl looked at him as if he'd just asked one of the stupidest questions possible. 'I'm running a DNA test, muppet boy. And here's me thinking you were a CSI.'

'Yes, but we have technicians to do that.'

'And? Valera is busy with something for Calleigh, and besides, the fun part of criminalistics is the science. If I wanted to do a 2D puzzle, I'd have stayed in the NYPD.'

'Okay, science nerd, I'll see you later.' He started to leave, then stopped and turned back around. 'Have you spoken to Horatio yet?'

'No, and I have no intention of doing so.'

'You can't ignore the problem and hope it goes away.'

'I can try.'

'He's your uncle, Cheryl.'

'He's also my boss. I don't want anyone thinking that I'm here on his say-so.'

'Nobody knows though.'

'No, and that's the way I intend on keeping it. I didn't get the job here because of my relations with him.'

'I know. But H is a good guy.'

'And then he can wait until I'm ready to deal with this myself.'

Speed shrugged his shoulders. There was no chance he was going to win this argument. She was too damn stubborn. He left the lab, calling his goodbyes over his shoulder, and went home.

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Later that evening, Cheryl was stood in front of her mirror, examining her reflection. Her red brown hair was loose down her back, hanging in light curls and waves, her bangs softly framing her face. It was the first time she'd worn her hair down in weeks, normally it was scraped back in pigtails or a pony tail. As far as she was concerned, you couldn't work a scene with hair down and in the way. She was hoping Calleigh would soon realise that too.

Never one for much make-up, she wore only mascara and eyeliner, framing her green eyes. And she was wearing a dress. A first in her books, but then again, she never dressed up. She grabbed her purse and hurried out. She had no clue where she was going, but she'd get there eventually.

Eventually turned out to be an hour and three phone calls later, she had parked up and was entering the club. And that wasn't easy to get into either. Of course she had to look underage, and it took her ages to find her ID, but eventually she was in.

Not being able to see the others, she went straight to the middle of the dance floor and joined in with the crowd. Eventually, she was dragged off to a corner by Calleigh, who had managed to spot her on the way back from the bar.

'Let me take one of those,' Cheryl yelled over the music, grabbing one of the bottles of beer, and following her to the table Eric and Speed were sat at. Both of them looked up and did a double take. 'Here ya go,' said Cheryl, placing the bottle on the table. What?'

'You look good,' Calleigh answered, shouting in her ear. 'They're guys… one track mind.'

Cheryl laughed. 'Cheers. I'll be back, need to nip to the bathroom.' She turned and hurried off. On her trip there, she turned the wrong way and ended up in a corridor. She was about to turn around, when she heard voices.

'You came here with me, not him! How many times have I told you not to be looking at other people?' Someone was shrieking. 'You know how mad it makes me.'

Cheryl looked around. There was a couple in there at the back, but it was too dark to see anything, and she was not in the mood to be caught in a domestic. She turned around and headed out, went to the bathroom, then was on her way back to the others when someone walked into her, spilling their drink down her legs.

'Sorry,' she automatically apologised, despite it not being her fault, and headed back to the table, too annoyed to glare at the person. The others had been joined by two girls who were swarming around Eric, much to the amusement of Calleigh, who had just returned from the bar with another round of drinks.

'Come on,' she yelled in Calleigh's ear. 'We're going dancing,' she told her as she pulled the blonde out onto the dance floor. Half an hour later, the girls were gasping for a drink, and headed back to their drinks.

Cheryl was about to take a mouthful of beer when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to find an incredibly cute guy holding a red cocktail of some description out for her. 'It's an apology for spilling my drink down you before.'

'Thanks,' said Cheryl, a little surprised, setting the drink on the table.

'I'm Mark.'

'Cheryl.'

'Aren't you a little young to be in here?'

Cheryl stared at him, 'I'm old enough, thank you.'

'Sorry, it's just that I think you are incredibly good looking, and I wanted to check that it was legal for me to ask you out before I did.'

Cheryl was saved from any further embarrassment by Calleigh, who had wandered over. 'Yall okay over here?' She asked, looking at the unimpressed look on Cheryl's face.

Then Cheryl noticed the light glinting off thegun on the other side of the room, 'DUCK!' She screamed over the music. The others looked at her as if she had gone mad when she dropped to the floor. And then the gunfire began.

Cheryl counted five bangs as everybody dropped to the floor around her, and the music stopped. The second the gunfire stopped, Cheryl looked up, the person who had been firing ran out of the fire exit across the room. She leapt up and charged out of the nearest exit herself, but by the time she had gotten out, all she could just see was the lights of a car reflecting off a nearby building. But she had heard the engine… and that was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

Horatio walked over to his CSIs less than half an hour later. People were still milling around outside, but inside, all that were left were a few members of staff… and four dead bodies.

Horatio looked over at his crew, then at the club, and then at the bodies, before looking straight back at them, 'you guys just don't have any luck when it comes to going out, do you.'

Cheryl finally managed to get back to the others. 'Remind me never to come out with you guys again.' She told them, having heard what Horatio had just said. 'Paramedics have just taken away four people, two shot and two trampled, all in critical conditions. The police are taking the statements outside.'

'Speed, get to the hospital, we need the evidence off them. You're all working now. I need the best on this.' Horatio told them. Speed nodded and left the building, his car keys swinging in his hand. 'How much have you had to drink?'

'Enough to be able to work,' said Eric. Calleigh nodded in agreement.

'Two mouthfuls,' said Cheryl. She was looking down at one of the bodies lying off in the corner of the room. 'Guys, I think we have a separate case here.'

'What makes you say that?' Asked Eric, looking at Cheryl.

'She's been strangled,' she told them, pointing at the woman on the floor, 'there are handprints on her neck.'

'And that means she's been dead longer than the shooting.' Commented Horatio.

'Well how come nobody noticed?' Asked Calleigh.

'That is what we're going to answer.' Replied Horatio. 'Cheryl, you noticed her, you follow with that. Eric, Calleigh, we're going for the shooter.'

'I have my kit in my car, with plenty of spares, guys,' said Cheryl, as she headed for the door. The others followed her to her Hummer. She opened the back door and pulled out a spare overall, before starting to pull it on.

'Wow, Cheryl. You have enough to kit out the entire shift in here.' Exclaimed Eric, as he pulled out some gloves and a camera.

'There's not that much.' She protested.

'You have three cameras in here!'

She sighed, 'I didn't want to be in a situation like this, without being prepared. Besides, when I was warned about a certain someone "borrowing" things from my kit, I didn't want to get caught short. And trust me, that guy has borrowed enough things off me in the past couple of weeks, I wasn't going to take the risk.'

Eric looked at her, 'you mean Speed?'

'Yeah.'

'But he's not been at work.' Said Calleigh.

As they had all pulled out what they needed, Cheryl shut the door and started walking to back to the club. 'The guy keeps raiding my fridge, and he never puts the hairdryer away.'

Calleigh and Eric looked at each other, neither of them following her.

Cheryl stopped and turned around. She burst out laughing at the expression on their faces. 'Come on, we have a crime scene to process.' She told them, instead of telling them she'd been joking. Speed had never been to hers. She been to his a few times after he'd gotten out of hospital, but normally, they'd meet up at the beach. And there was definitely nothing going on between them. She wasn't sure why she'd said it, but it was worth it for the expressions on their faces.

When she got back in the club, she was met by Alexx who was processing the woman, softly talking to her as if she were still alive. That's what Cheryl liked most about Alexx, but what most people found eerie. She spoke to them as if she were helping them on. 'Hey sweetie,' she greeted Cheryl as she knelt down beside her, 'you look pretty. Shame you had to look so pretty for this.'

'Hey Alexx, what can you tell me about the vic?' She smiled sadly at her.

'No ID on her. She doesn't have a purse, but looking at the face, she's younger than you.' She reached down and opened her mouth, 'she doesn't have all her wisdom teeth yet.' She shut her mouth and stroked the girl's face, 'poor baby, you weren't old enough to be here, were you.'

Cheryl sighed. She hated cases involving minors. 'Anything else, Alexx?'

'She has fresh abrasions on the palms of her hands, defensive wounds,' she said, holding out the girl's palms, 'but she also has abrasions on the back of her hands. You fought back, didn't you baby.' She said, addressing the body, rather than Cheryl. Cheryl reached into her kit and began scraping underneath the nails.

Alexx moved onto her eyes, shining a torch into them, 'petechial haemorrhaging. Preliminarily, I'd say she died from asphyxiation, but I'll know more when we get back to the morgue. And she didn't die here. She was moved.'

Cheryl sealed an evidence bag with a hair in it. 'Thanks Alexx. I'll see you later.' She got up, picked up her torch and camera, and started to look around for the scene of the murder. She was about to walk away, when Alexx called her back, 'hey Cheryl, I don't know if this will help, but there is a red sticky substance on her leg.'

Cheryl bent down and grabbed a swab from her kit and wiped the stain, before checking it for blood. It tested negative. She brought it to her nose and gave it a sniff, 'alcohol of some description?' She put the swab in a bag and put it with her other evidence. 'Thanks Alexx.'

She got back to her feet and shined her torch at the floor. There was a trail of liquid leading away from the body. Admittedly, with amount of alcohol in the building, the trail could have come from anywhere, but she decided to see if led to anything. It did, as it happened; to the corridor she had accidentally walked into earlier. She pointed her torch in the direction of the argument she had earlier.

On a ledge of an alcove was a glass half full of a red cocktail like the one she had been given earlier. She walked over to it and picked it up, shining her torch over it. It had both a lip print and several partial finger prints. Cheryl reached down to her kit and pulled out a container to pour the liquid into, before collecting the glass as evidence. As she put the evidence into her kit, she noticed something else.

She picked up her torch and shined it further down the corridor. The light bounced back off something big and sparkly. She walked over to it to find it was a purse, the ID inside belonging to a 'Martha Stewart.' Cheryl had to smile. She may have been English, but she had been in America long enough to know a fake ID when she saw one. But how whoever it was had gotten away with that was incredible.

She pulled out a wad of notes, somewhere in the region of thirty, mostly ones, and a credit card belonging to 'Melizza Grant.' Also, in the bag, was a tube of lip gloss, and a phone. She put them all into evidence, and wandered back to her kit. As she was putting her new evidence with the others she had collected, she stopped, and stared at the drink.

Taking a deep breath, she wandered back into the club, where they had been seated earlier and stared at the drink that had been bought for her earlier by Mark. She poured the drink into another evidence jar, and collected the glass into evidence. Then she set the right foot, of her still heeled feet on a chair and rolled up her trouser leg of the overall, staring at the red stain on her leg.'

'What have you got?' Asked Horatio, as he walked over and joined her.

'I'm not sure, yet. Hopefully nothing,' she told him, as she took a swab of her leg. 'Where's Calleigh?'

'Outside, taking fingerprints and pictures of everyone who was here.'

'Hey H, I've just looked at the security pictures of outside the club,' said Eric, as he came over and joined them, staring at Cheryl's leg. 'They've got nothing on the car the shooter got away in.'

'It was a '03 Mazda Miata MX5, with a 1.8L 16v engine.' Said Cheryl, rolling down her trouser leg.

'Colour?'

'I don't know. I didn't see it.'

'Then how do you know what it is?'

'My specialty is vehicles. Check the street cameras for one heading down Washington.'

Eric glanced at Horatio, before staring at Cheryl in disbelief. 'Yeah, whatever,' he muttered to himself, as he watched her wander off.

Cheryl found Calleigh outside surrounded by quite a lot of people, in various stages of drunkenness, all complaining about being held there. 'Hey, Calleigh, have you printed that Mark guy yet?'

'No, not yet. Why?'

'I'm not sure yet. It doesn't matter too much anyway. Well, I'm going back to the lab to process this. Good luck with this lot. Laters.'

Cheryl headed back to her Hummer and drove to the Crime Lab. Once there, she went straight to work processing the evidence, sticking her headphones firmly in her ears and turning up the volume. Tonight was a night for some RnB… Destiny's Child. She was busy singing out loud to their Survivor when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Standing behind her were Calleigh, Speed and Eric, all with slightly amused expressions on their faces.

Cheryl turned bright red and dropped Martha Stewarts ID on the table in front of her. 'Quit creeping up on me,' she exclaimed as she pulled the headphones out.

'Turn your music down.' Said Calleigh.

'Or stop singing so loud. The whole lab can hear you.' Said Eric.

Cheryl was about to say something back when one of the computers behind her started beeping. 'A hit already?' She headed over to it and sat down, as the others started processing whatever evidence they had.

The fingerprints of the dead girl had kicked out a match to a Melizza Grant… the owner of the purse. 'So, my dead body is Martha Stewart.'

'Martha Stewart?' Repeated Eric, looking over from the pile of videotapes he had begun pulling out of a box.

'Yeah, it would appear so. I found her purse, with a credit card belonging to Melizza Grant and an ID for Martha Stewart. The prints off the body match to Melizza Grant, who is in the system for underage drinking. She got busted by ABC a couple of months ago.' She told them.

'Interesting,' said Speed, 'because one of the victims in intensive care is Louise Ciccone.'

'Madonna?"

'So it would appear.'

'Well, I had a Shaquille O'Neal try to give me his prints earlier.' Chuckled Calleigh.

'Okay, so there is a splurge of really bad fake IDs going around. Jeeze, what is happening with the youth of today, that they can't even create a decent fake ID,' muttered Cheryl, reaching for the Martha Stewart card.

'The youth of today?' Repeated Speed, 'are you serious?'

'I was a thirteen years old, surrounded by eighteen years olds when I did my first degree. By the time I was doing my second degree over here, and the drinking age was twenty-one instead of eighteen, and I was still only sixteen, I needed a fake ID. I made it myself. I still have it somewhere. And I was clever enough to use my real details, other than my year of birth. And when you hang around with people older than yourself, you tend to act older than you are.'

The others looked at her. 'Okay then, break the law then.'

'Well stripping didn't pay enough.' Cheryl burst out laughing at their faces, 'come on guys, I am not serious!'

'I'm glad to hear it.' Cheryl whirled around to find Alexx, Horatio and Yelina standing behind her.

'Hey H, I think we have another problem,' said Eric, quickly changing the subject, 'we have a new breakout of fake IDs.'

'Celebrity IDs,' confirmed Yelina, pulling out a notebook. 'Several clubs have reported this, this week.'

'Where are we on IDing the girl?' Horatio asked Cheryl.

'Melizza Grant, age seventeen,' she told them, giving the address to Yelina, who walked off, to inform the parents.

'I sent some blood to Tox,' said Alexx, 'the results have just gotten in,' she told them, handing a folder over to Cheryl.

'Blood alcohol was 1.02. She was over the limit, no surprises there, I guess… traces of flunitrazepam… rohypnol.' Cheryl looked over at Alexx. She was nodding.

'SAE came back positive for rape. No trace of the rapist on her.' She told her, before leaving.

Cheryl sighed. This case just kept getting worse. 'I'll be in trace,' she muttered, before leaving the lab with a few items of evidence.

Speed found her staring at the printer, a while later. 'What? No music?' He asked her.

Cheryl ignored him, instead jumping up and grabbing the printout. She swore softly.

'And are you going to explain what's getting you all jumpy?'

Cheryl sighed, 'the sticky substance found on Melizza was sambuca, cranberry juice, lemon and lime… a "Cranberry Kisses" also with traces of the rohypnol.'

'And?'

'And, I found a drink, with Melizza's prints on the glass… the same drink… with rohypnol.'

'The rapist's prints?'

'Nothing… but,' she sighed again, 'on my way back from the bathroom, someone spilt a drink down me. I ran it because it looked like the other, and that had traces of rohypnol in it too. The drink that was bought for me had rohypnol in it as well.'

Speed swore loudly.

'It turns out, that you're not the only one who was pissed off at that result,' said Calleigh. She was standing in the doorway, peering in. 'Yall need to come take a look at this.'

The two followed Calleigh from trace, back to the other lab, to a computer. On it was a computer simulation of the directions and points of impacts of the shooting. 'They were all aimed at us?' Asked Speed.

'Or Mark.' Said Cheryl. She looked at Calleigh.

'No,' said Calleigh, before Cheryl could ask, 'his prints were never collected. Speed, we're going back to the crime scene.' Speed nodded and the two of them headed out.

Cheryl followed a little while later, heading for the AV lab. Sat in front of the monitors were Eric and Dan Cooper, the AV geek. Eric was sat staring at one of the screens with his mouth flapping about like a fish.

'03 Mazda Miata MX5?' She asked him.

'How did you know that?'

'I told you, vehicles are my thing. I like cars.'

'But you're a girl.'

'Eric, I am going to pretend you did not just say that.'

'Sorry, but you could tell what car it was from the engine.'

Cheryl shook her head, 'maybe one day, I will let you see what I did to my Hummer. Or maybe even the other cars.'

'You have more than one car?'

'Have you run the licence through the DMV yet?'

'No, on my way now.'

Cheryl turned to leave, but found Horatio stood in the doorway, 'I heard about the rohypnol.'

'I didn't drink any, if that's what you're asking.'

'Good. I just needed to check.' He told her, moving aside to let Eric and Dan leave.

'Don't worry; I would have removed myself from the case, if I thought I was going to compromise it.'

'I wasn't asking through concern of the case. I was asking through concern of my niece.' He told her, staring at her through his bright blue eyes, before turning and starting to leave.

'Horatio.'

He stopped and turned around.

'Thanks.'

He smiled at her, and then left.


	3. Chapter 3

'You paged?' Cheryl was stood in the doorway of Yelina's office.

'The parents of Melizza are here. They've bought her older sister with them. You want to come join me in the interview room?'

'Her older sister?'

'Turns out, they were out together last night.'

Ten minutes later, Cheryl, Yelina and Melizza's sister, Amy, were sat in one of the interview rooms.

'You were with your sister last night?'

Amy nodded. 'She'd been bugging me to let her come out with her for ages.

'Even though she was only seventeen?'

'Don't you think I'm regretting this now?' She cried, a fresh wave of tears threatening to burst free.

Cheryl took a breath, 'did your sister hook up with anyone this evening?'

Amy shook her head, 'not that I know of. She'd gone out with her girlfriend, Carla.'

'And what happened to Carla.'

'I don't know. They had an argument and she left early.'

'And where did Melizza get her ID from?'

"Some guy called Mark.'

'Mark?' Cheryl looked at the girl.

'Yeah, we saw him inside a few times afterwards, but she was the one who found him in the first place.'

'You wouldn't know where we could find him?'

'No.'

'Okay, thank you Amy.' Cheryl got up and left, leaving Yelina to deal with Amy.

She returned to the computer to start flicking through the pictures of the people who had been at Illusions. After flicking through all of the twice, she still hadn't found Mark. 'God Damnit!' She cried, throwing her pen across the room with such force, it shattered on contact with the opposite wall.

'Cheryl?'

Cheryl turned around to find Horatio and Speed in the doorway. She ran her fingers through her hair. She had been so caught up in the case she hadn't even tied her hair back. 'I'm sorry, I'm just tired.' Strictly speaking, that was true. She had only just pulled a double before going out and she hadn't managed to get any sleep. Technically, she was now on a triple.

'Cheryl, are you still fit to be on this case?' Horatio asked her.

'I'm fine, really.I just-' She stopped andlooked down at the papers in front of her. They were the tox results of Melizza's blood. She stopped and looked up at the two men. Without saying a word, she got up, dashed past them and hurried to the DNA lab. Valera looked up when she entered.

'What's up?'

'I took a blood sample from Melizza Grant's hands. Have you run a profile on it yet?'

'It came out of the printer ten minutes ago.' She told her, as she moved over to a folder on one of the tables. 'You actually gave me two samples. Male blood, and female saliva.'

'Are you serious?'

'I ran them through the databases. Nothing.'

'Compare it to the hair I pulled off Melizza, and page me when you get the results.' She walked straight out of the lab and right into Horatio.

'Tripp found the Mazda. It's registered to Carla Breen.'

'Melizza's girlfriend?'

'Eric is going to process the car. Do you want the interview?'

'Yeah.'

Horatio stopped and looked at her. 'I can see this case is getting to you. Don't worry,' he said, seeing the panic begin to form in her eyes, 'Don't worry, I'm not going to take you off it, butI do want you to know, if you need to talk, my door is always open, and my phone is always on. I mean that as your boss, or your uncle, or a friend.'

Cheryl sighed, 'perhaps we should talk.Later.'

Horatio gently laid his hand on her shoulder. 'I'm not going to rush you, but it is ok to let someone in.'

Cheryl looked up at him, before turning around and hurrying off to do the interview, but not before he had seen the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes

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'Carla Breen?'

A pretty redhead was glaring back at her. 'Yeah.'

'You don't look all that sad, considering your girlfriend has just been murdered.'

'And raped.'

'You know about that?'

'She told me.'

'Did she tell you who raped her.'

'She didn't have to. It was that scumbag who got us the IDs, Mark.'

'Know his surname?'

'No.'

Cheryl looked closely at the girl. 'Would you mind giving us a DNA sample?'

Carla glared at her, before opening her mouth. Cheryl leant over and rubbed a swab against the inside of her cheek. As she leant back, she noticed something on the girl's hands. 'Mind if I do a tape lift of your hands too?'

'Knock yourself out.'

Cheryl did so, before returning to her questioning. 'So what happened after you found out she had been raped?'

'I left.'

'Straight away?'

'Yeah.'

'See, this is where I'm having a little problem with your story. Melizza died before the shooting took place, but we have a witness who saw you driving off afterwards.'

'So I stopped at the bar and had a couple of drinks first. I didn't particularly want to confess to drink driving. You already have me for underage drinking.'

Cheryl looked at the girl. Something didn't add up, and she was going to find out what. 'Thank you Carla,' she told her, before leaving the room.

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She went back to the lab and handed the new sample over to Valera, 'compare this to that unknown female sample, will you.'

'Good. You've just saved me paging you. The results are in on that hair. They're a match to the blood.'

'Thanks Valera. I'll be back in Trace.'

Which was exactly where Eric found her later. 'I've got GSR transfer from the car. The girl has definitely been using a gun.'

'I lifted some GSR off her myself in the interview,' agreed Cheryl.

'And,' continued Eric, 'I have a message from Valera. The unknown female DNA is a positive match to the sample from Carla.'

'Hey guys,' said Calleigh, poking her head around the door. We've run a check on the Breen household. Turns out that there is a colt registered to her father, which is right for the bullets recovered from the scene. We've got the warrant. I'm heading over there now.'

'I'm heading back in the interview now.' Said Cheryl, 'Wanna join?' She asked Eric, who was watching Calleigh walk off.

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'Here's how I see it, Carla,' began Cheryl, 'you found Melizza's body, and half carried, half dragged her into the club, wanting her to be found. And who's going to notice two drunken girls, one helping the other who had passed out, in a nightclub. After that, you left, got your gun, before returning to start firing at the person who had done it to her.'

'Interesting theory. Prove it.'

'Carla, we found Gun Shot Residue on your hands and in your car. Want to explain it?'

'Yeah, you find it when someone has recently fired a gun.'

'So you're admitting to firing a gun?' Asked Eric.

'Yes. I was angry, so I left the club and went to the firing range. I'm a member. Blew off steam.' She told them, looking straight at Cheryl.

'You're lying.'

'Prove it. You can't match the GSR to a gun. All you can do, is tell I've fired a gun recently.'

'No, but,' said Cheryl, 'we have a warrant to search your house, and we're going to run tests on all the guns we find, and match them to the bullets. And that will prove it.'

'No, you won't, because the bullets wont match up. You have nothing.'

Cheryl got up, placed both hands on the table and lent across the table so that her face was only inches from Carla's. 'You opened fire in that club. You know it and I know it. And I'm going to prove it.'

'All you have is the GSR.' Said Carla.

'And one day, I will find a way to make it so that you can match the GSR to a gun. Until then, I will find some other way.' Cheryl got up and walked out of the lab, slamming the door behind her. The door opened and closed a moment later.

'Hey, Cheryl!' Shouted Eric.

Cheryl stopped and turned around, 'don't bother Eric, I lost my temper, and let the case get personal. I know. And right now, I'm going to go concentrate on the one thing that doesn't lie: the evidence. I'll be back in the garage if you need me.' And with that, she turned around and left, leaving Eric standing in the hallway, unsure as to what had just happened.

**- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -**

**Thanks for reading, there's more to come! I'm trying to keep it as if it was an actual episode, does it work? Or do you want more character 'background/relations' etc?**

**Speedfanatic05 – my first reviewer! I'm glad I made you smile – thanks again for reading! And, in response to what you asked about Cheryl/Speed in the Lost Son… I'm not sure, I'd like them to, but I don't know if it would work. Maybe, we'll see.**

**Shopping-luva91 – Again thanks for reading… glad you're liking it**


	4. Chapter 4

Cheryl was lying on her back, staring up at the underneath of the car, when three sets of feet appeared next to the car.

'You know, I checked that car for evidence already. There is nothing there.' Came Eric's voice.

'I'm not looking for evidence. I'm looking for a number.'

"I'm not sure under a car is where you're going to find the number of your next boyfriend.'

Cheryl shot out of the car and looked up, 'ha ha, Speed. Very funny. Actually, I was looking for this.' She got to her feet and wafted a piece of paper around. On it was a very long number.

'What's that?' Asked Calleigh.

'Mazda decided to try a prototype GPS system on their Miata's. Basically, if the car was stolen, you'd call up with the registration as per normal, but, if you wanted to know where exactly the car had been, you'd check the little black box, metaphorically speaking.'

'And what's the little black box?' Asked Eric.

'A twenty-seven digit code, that's found on the box, under the car. It sends a message via satellite to a computer, where it's stored for three weeks, before it's over written.'

'And how do you know about this?'

'Well, much as I'd love to say I created it, I'd be lying, as my speciality is engines, not electronics. However, after tweaking my Hummer, and all the moderations to my other cars, I placed the same GPS system on my cars, so I know how it works.'

'So, let's run it through the computer.'

'Ah, that's where the problem lies.'

'And what's the problem?' Asked Calleigh.

Well, technically speaking, you need to get it through Mazda, but I've already spoken to my friend there, and their computers are on the blink.'

'And what use is that to us?'

'If you look at it that way, it's bad, but I happen to have a copy of the programme myself. So, wait a minute and I'll get my Hummer in.' And with that, she hurried out of the garage before the others could say anything. They were still standing there when she drove the car in minutes later.

She hopped out of the car and headed to the back door, before opening it for the others to see.

'Whoa,' exclaimed Speed, who hadn't seen all the extra items of kit earlier, 'I know where I'm going when I get short.' But the back of the car was also impressing Calleigh and Eric who had only seen it in the dark, and briefly.

'Oh my lord,' said Calleigh. The back of the car was impressive. Inside was the most enormous sub and two speakers. But in the centre, in the back of the rear seats, was a black panel, matching the leather interior.

'How much does the NYPD pay these days?' Asked Speed.

Cheryl ignored him, and pressed a button on the car keys. It flicked down the panel to reveal a built in computer. 'This computer contains all my music, but it also contains one of the copies of the GPS software. The other copy is on my home computer, just in case this gets stolen… although good luck to them,' she half explained, as she began hitting keys on the keyboard.

'Okay, hang on a minute. I'm serious here, how on earth have you managed to get a car like this?' Asked Speed.

Cheryl stopped what she was doing and turned to face the others. They were all looking very curious. She took a deep breathe. 'I love cars. I love the freedom of driving. I love the sound of the engine. I just love cars. I did my engineering degree and developed my own kind of engine. It's similar to the engine in this one, although a lot less sophisticated version, actually. And I've sold the design, and now, well, lets just say, it pays for the cars.'

'Are you serious?'

'Yeah.'

'So what's so good about your engine?' Asked Eric.

'Well, I can over 800 miles out of a tank of gas, on this thing… and the tank is only 10 gallons.' The others let out various cries of surprise. 'Look,' she said, as she began typing in the code, 'we can discuss this after we've tracked this car.'

'And why are we tracking this car?' Asked Speed.

Did you find anything at Carla's house?'

'We found the gun. We found several, actually, but none of them was the one that was fired in the club.' Explained Calleigh.

'Did you guys find anything at the club?' Cheryl asked as she waited for the information to be sent to her.

'Yeah, an ID.'

'Who's?'

'Well, here's the thing. We found this ID, the prints match the one's off your glass, Mark's.' Said Calleigh.

'But Mark isn't his name,' said Speed, 'the ID was "Mark Wahlberg".'

'There's nothing more to go on with that case.' Said Calleigh.

'And what about the shooter?'

'Nothing.'

'And that's why I'm at my computer. Basically, we know she was shooting. But she went to the range to cover the GSR trace she knew we might find on her. So if she didn't dump the gun at the club, then she dumped it between the club, and the range.'

'How do you know she didn't dump it _after_ going to the range?' Eric asked her.

'Because, she's clever. She knew the car might get traced before the left the range, so she wasn't going to risk the gun being found in it. And this,' she said, pointing to the screen, 'shows exactly where she stopped, en route to the range, for exactly six minutes. Long enough to dump the gun.'

'I'll come with you,' said Speed.

Cheryl shut the door, and made to move around to the driver's seat, when she stopped. She turned around to face Calleigh and Eric. 'I'm such an idiot,' she exclaimed. She unbuttoned the top of her overalls to reveal her dress.

'Now's not the time for dancing, Cheryl,' said Speed, staring at her.

Cheryl just glared at him. 'I'm wearing part of the crime scene,' she said to Calleigh and Eric. 'There may be traces of him, on me.' She ran back round to the trunk and pulled it open. Next to one of the speakers, hidden in the side of the wall, was a little compartment. In it was a spare set of trainers, a pair of shorts, and a little, white vest-top. 'Oh, give me a break,' muttered Cheryl, as she pulled the clothes out.

She looked at Eric and Speed, 'look, I'm about to take the evidence off and get changed. I have no intention of trying to find my way back to the locker room either,' she told them, as she began pulling the overalls down to her feet, leaving her back in her heels and dress. She bent over, picked them up, and dumped them in a brown bag which she handed over to Calleigh, 'sorry, but I don't know if anything transferred onto the inside of the overalls.'

Seeing that the men had turned around, she quickly pulled off the shoes and dress, and dropped them in a separate bag, before pulling on her other clothes. Once changed, she hurried round to the driver's seat and jumped in. 'Come on, Speed, if you're coming. We're going.'

Speed raised an eyebrow at Eric, who was pulling a face at him, before joining Cheryl up front in the Hummer. 'Were you serious about the engine?' He asked her, as they pulled out of the crime lab garage.

'Yes.'

'But, you're a girl. What do you know about engines?'

Cheryl leaned over and punched him as hard as she could on the arm.

'Hey!' He objected, rubbing his arm.

'Timothy! What is the deal with girls and cars? You don't have a problem with Calleigh and guns!'

'I'm sorry, but you constantly surprise me.'

'You should stop spending so much time with Delko. He said the same thing earlier.'

'You are going to have to explain a few things about yourself, you know.'

Cheryl glanced over at him. 'Whatever,' she said, pressing a few buttons on the touchscreen on the dashboard. Within seconds, loud rock music was blaring out of the speakers in the back. She turned the music down slightly.

'The Who?' Asked Speed

'One of the greatest bands in history.' Said Cheryl, nodding her head.

'Which song is it?'

'Wont get fooled again.'

Speed looked out of the window, 'Cheryl,' he said, eventually, 'I'm sorry if I upset you.'

Cheryl pulled over, having finally reached their destination. 'I'm sorry if I hurt you.'

Speed laughed, 'you pack a punch there. Where did you learn to hit like that?'

Cheryl looked over at him, an expression in her eyes which he couldn't quite read, before turning of the engine and jumping out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In front of them was a drainage ditch containing water about half a foot deep. The sun was slowly beginning to rise over the horizon. Cheryl stood staring at it, as Speed walked over to her, joining her on the embankment of the ditch. 'I didn't realise how late it was getting.' She said, mainly to herself, 'pretty, isn't it?'

'Yeah.'

Cheryl turned to grab her kit and noticed Speed staring at her. 'What?'

'Nothing,' he told her, before reaching down and grabbing his torch from his kit. Cheryl grabbed hers and the two began shining their lights across the murky water.

'I think we're going to have to go in.' Said Cheryl. She leant over and slipped her trainers off, before lowering herself in the water. 'Man, this is cold!'

'You should have shoes on,' Speed told her, as he rolled his trousers off. 'You have no idea what's in there.'

'I was hoping for a gun.'

'That's not what I meant, and you know it.'

'I know, but I have no other shoes with me, and I don't want to drive back bare foot. I'll be fine. I'm more worried about alligators.'

'Gators in the sewers are a myth.'

'Firstly, Speed, this is a drain, not a sewer, secondly, you come from New York, not Miami, and thirdly, there was a case in New York not so long ago where a sewer worker was killed by an alligator.'

'I have lived here for a while, Cheryl. Besides, I listen to what Delko tells me.'

'Yeah, you proved that earlier,' said Cheryl, pointing the flashlight at him. 'Why is the water so deep?' She asked, before he could apologise again, 'it hasn't rained for ages.

'It's the water that's come down from further upstate.' The two of them continued to wade through the water, until Speed's light picked something up. 'I think I've got something.'

Cheryl hurried over, carefully placing her feet. She shone her light over Speed's, seeing the gun instantly. She pulled a glove out of her pocket and put it on, before leaning down, and sticking her hand in the water to pick up the gun. 'This had better match the bu-' She stopped and looked at Speed, 'what is that rumbling?'

They both turned around. Not too far off, a wall of water was heading towards them, along the drain. 'Speed, move!'

They ran towards the sides, the water heading towards them. Cheryl flung the gun towards the car, not hearing it land on the gravel over the roar of the water. She leapt up at the banking and heaved herself up, ignoring the immense pain she was feeling in her feet, before turning to see what Speed was doing.

At some point, he had tripped and was just reaching the bank. Cheryl reached out and grabbed his hand, as the wall of water came crashing down over him. He pulled with such a jolt, it felt like her arm was being yanked out of its socket. And then she felt his fingers begin to slip from hers.

She flung her other arm into the water, and over his wrist, before pulling with all her might. She wasn't quite strong enough to pull him out, but she was strong enough to hang on to him.

Finally, just when she felt she couldn't hold on any more, the water began to subside, and she was able to pull him out, and drag him onto the grassy bank. She turned him over. He wasn't breathing.

Without wasting another second, she began the CPR she had been taught, but had only ever had to use once. She didn't know how long she had been pumping his chest, nor how long she had been breathing into him, but finally, after a breath, as she pulled away, he took a deep breath and began choking, coughing up the water.

Cheryl sat back and took a deep breath, suddenly aware that the only time she had been breathing, was when she had been breathing for him.

Slowly, Speed sat up and looked over at her. She was shaking uncontrollably and there were tears streaking down her face. He scuffled over before wrapping his arms around her. She looked up at him, watching the water drip from his hair down his face. 'That's the second time I've saved your life, and that's the same number of days that we've worked together.' She told him, her words almost tumbling over each other.'How on earth have you managed to stay alive all this time?'

Speed said nothing, instead leaning over and kissing her.

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**Thanks for reading. I hope you are enjoying it. Hmmm, you know, although I said I wasn't bothered about reviews, it would be nice to know people are reading, even though I'd continue to write anyway, so if you fancy making my day, just leave me a little message saying you've read it. It only takes a minute, and you dont have to say whether you liked it or not, or what worked and what didn't...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, here is chapter 5: thank you for reading! I decided i needed to explain the whole 'Cheryl' thing. Her past, that is, so I'm going off the story slightly, although, i guess it is needed. Enjoy**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cheryl pulled away, 'sorry,' she murmured, as she pulled herself to her feet and hurried over to the gun. She picked it up and hurried around to the back door of her H2. She was about to pull the door open when she was joined by Speed.

'Hey, what are you apologising for? I was the one that kissed you.'

Cheryl shook her head, sending water flying off the ends of her hair, muttering something that sounded like _I shouldn't have done that_, under her breath. She yanked opened the door, only to let out a scream of pain, and drop the gun. She dropped to her knees, only just noticing that her arm was in agony from holding onto Speed.

'Cheryl?' Speed dropped to his knees next to her.

'I'm fine,' she gasped, grapping the gun and getting back on her feet. Next to her, Speed got back on his, watching her as she put it in an evidence bag. She stepped back and shut the door, before heading round and getting in the drivers seat, careful to use her other arm to open the door.

The drive back was silent, for the most part, Cheryl not even bothering to put some music on.

'Are you going to ignore me all the way home?'

'I'm not ignoring you.' Said Cheryl. 'I just don't have anything interesting to say.'

'I would have thought what happened back there would be a start.'

Cheryl sighed. 'I can't go there.'

'What? Talking about the kiss? It wasn't that bad, was it?'

She sighed again, 'far from it. But that's all it was. A kiss.'

'Why?'

'Because of many reasons.'

'Such as?'

'One, I don't do relationships. Two, I don't do relationships with guys I work with. Three, there is someone else in this picture.'

'You're seeing someone else?'

'No, see point one.'

'I'm seeing someone?'

Cheryl managed a half smile. 'No, but one of my friends wishes that was the case.'

'Who?' Speed was completely confused.

'For a CSI, you aren't very good at noticing what's in front of you.' She said, as she pulled her Hummer into the parking lot of the crime lab.

'I really don't know who you are talking about. Valera?'

'Calleigh.' She said, jumping out and heading to the rear of the vehicle. She was slamming the rear door shut and half way to the lab's front door when Speed had caught up with her.

'Don't, be stupid.'

'I'm not, Tim. The girl has got it bad for you. I could see that with days of being here, so why can't you.' She pushed open the door and walked in.

'Where have you two been?' Asked Horatio, hurrying over.

'Following a lead.' Said Cheryl, holding up a gun.

'Well why haven't you been answering your cell?'

'I hope you didn't do anything illegal to obtain that, because it wont stand up in court,' added Yelina, who was stood next to Horatio

'Why are you two so wet?' Asked Calleigh, who had also joined them when they entered the building.

'Cheryl, you need to go get your arm seen to,' said Speed, before anything else was said.

'I'm fine,' said Cheryl, glaring at him.

'What's up with your arm?' Asked Horatio.

'Nothin- argh!' She screamed, as Speed prodded her shoulder.

She turned around and glared at him, 'it is taking everyounce of willpower in me, not to punch you again,' she told him through gritted teeth.

'Punch you again?' Said Eric as he walked over and joined them. 'What did you do?'

'Ladies, gentlemen, that is enough,' interrupted Horatio. 'What happened?'

'The car genius, that is Cheryl, found a way of working out where Carla had been on her last journey in her car,' said Eric, 'so they went there to see if she had dumped the gun.'

'Which she had,' said Cheryl, holding up the gun.'

Horatio took it and handed it to Calleigh. 'And where was this found?'

'Some drainage ditch – no warrant needed, in plain sight, etc, etc.' Said Cheryl.

'So why are you so wet?'

Because it was in the ditch.' Explained Speed.

'But it hasn't rained here in a while,' Calleigh. 'What did you do, go swimming for it?'

'No, turns out it's been raining upstate,' said Speed.

'So how hard did you punch Speed here, to hurt your arm?' Asked Yelina.

'It wasn't the punch,' said Cheryl, 'it's the fact this guy has a death wish.'

'What happened?' Exclaimed Calleigh.

Cheryl looked pointedly at Speed, before turning back to the others. 'We didn't notice the water until it was practically on us. We barely got out. Well, muppet boy here, didn't. Had to do CPR, didn't I.'

This time it was Speed's time to glare at her. 'You still need to go get checked out.' He repeated.

'I told you, I'm fine.'

'If you're so fine, why are you still barefoot?'

Cheryl looked down at her feet. She had left her shoes back at the ditch without even realising it. She lifted them up and looked at the soles. They were covered in blood. 'Oh!' She cried, before overbalancing and toppling into Horatio.

'You,' said Horatio, 'you are going to the infirmary. Both of you. No arguments,' he added before either of them could protest. 'Calleigh, go run the gun and bullets in ballistics. Eric, you're going to DNA, see if Valera can get any epithelia's off the gun.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cheryl was sat in one of the rooms in the infirmary feeling sorry for herself, when Horatio walked in. 'Do I have to send you to an anger management course?' He asked her, as he sat next to her on the bed.

She had since showered, changed into another overall, and was spread out over a bed. 'For the record, I never hit her.'

'No, but the doctor said you threatened her.'

'Horatio, I hate needles, and I will rather catch every disease under the sun, than have one stuck in me,' she shuddered.

'Well, maybe, you should stop putting yourself in situations where you need one.'

'Well maybe, Speedle should be a little more careful with his life,' she retorted.

Horatio smiled. 'You are more like your father than you'll ever know.'

Cheryl looked away, 'I didn't come here looking for a family, you know.'

'I know. But I think you need one.' He sighed, 'you don't like letting anyone in, do you?'

Cheryl didn't say anything.

'OK,' he said, 'ok, lets take this slowly. Tell me about yourself.'

'I've already told you about myself.' She looked over at him. He didn't look like he was going anywhere, anytime soon. 'My mum always told me that an education was the most important thing. She home schooled me, before I went to school, and whilst I was in high school. As a result, I was put in classes with people older than me, but at my level of intelligence. By the time it came to doing my A-levels, I was getting such a hard time about being so young, I just wanted to get out of there, so I did. I became the youngest to graduate, and I'm up there with being the youngest at university. I loved my degree in Cambridge. Doing Engineering meant there were few girls doing the same course, and it was always the girls who had the biggest problem with my age. So I spent my free time with the guys, and that's where my love of cars came from. I ended up specialising in mechanical engineering. The proudest day of my mum's life was when I invented the engine. It would have been when I fine tuned the second engine, but that design got stolen off me by my then boyfriend. I was so annoyed, but at the time I didn't think there was anything I could do about it. So I kept my head down and graduated second in my class.

She looked over at Horatio. He was sat quietly, listening to everything she said. So she continued. 'Just before I graduate, my mum remarried and moved to New York with her husband. Being so young, there were very few jobs I could do, despite my degree, so I decided to do another, to kill some time. So I went to LSU, which seems a strange place to go to after being at Cambridge. I could have gone to any Ivy league institution, but I didn't want that. I don't know why I chose LSU, actually. But I had so much fun there. I did my joint chemistry and physics degree there. I went into a partnership with three of my sisters in my sorority who have opened a cosmetics line. I'm just the scientist in the background, I don't like publicity. They're doing quite well, actually. I'm tying to get them to branch out into the crime world.' She chuckled, 'we developed a soap that would wash away even the smell of a decomp. And lord knows that would be popular, but they say it's not the image they want to have. So I just use it anyway. Anyways, towards the end of my degree, my stepfather was killed in a carjacking gone wrong. So after I graduated, I went to New York to be with my mum. Ended up joining the NYPD on the graveyard shift. Which I prefer to this one.'

She reached over and took a sip of water, before continuing. 'I remember my first dead body. I was nineteen. Had been working for all of a week. He was only seven, and had gotten mixed up in some gang war. In the July, two years later we had finally tracked down the perps, but they got off on some technicality with the evidence. Even my partner was upset, and he's normally just rageful. Apparently, it was incorrectly documented. Which is when I decided I wanted to get into forensics. And then, 9/11 happened, and my mum died. I was going to try and stay in New York, but after that, I just wanted to get out. So I spoke to one of my old professors at Cambridge, and he got me on the forensics in London.'

Horatio looked at her, she had tears running down her face, but he let her continue.

'I did nothing for two years, other than work. I became the equivalent of a level three. And then I realised how much I missed America, so I applied back out here. Why did you accept me? No normal person would have, considering my age.'

'Because,' said Horatio, 'because, I felt you had potential. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what your age is, so long as you are capable of doing the job. And you have certainly proved that.'

There was a knock at the door, and Yelina, Calleigh, Tim, Eric, and another man entered. Cheryl quickly wiped the tears away.

'What's up guys?' Asked Horatio.

'The bullets were fired from the gun,' said Calleigh.

'But we couldn't find any DNA on the gun,' added Eric.

'However,' said Yelina, looking curiously at the Horatio and Cheryl, 'I have had a chat with the DA, and because of the evidence from where her car has been, we arrested her for multiple murder charges.'

'So who are you?' Horatio asked the other man.

'Agent Caudfield,' he said, offering his hand to Horatio, 'FBI.'

'Lieutenant Caine, how may we help you?'

'I'm here about the fake IDs.'

Horatio looked over at his team.

'We think we may be able to work out where 'Mark' will be next, and get him.' Said Tim, 'we found traces of boat oil on Cheryl's dress.'

'The clubs near the fishing port?'

'You got it.'

'And how does this effect us?' He asked Agent Caudfield.

'One of your team has had interactions with him, and we need him for a positive ID. I am sorry to disturb you when you are with your daughter,' he said, looking at Cheryl, 'but if you could take me to your CSI, we would like to get her undercover tonight.'

The room erupted into life. Calleigh and Eric were busy laughing, Tim was shouting his objections, and Yelina was giving Cheryl and Horatio the strangest look.

'Guys!' Cried Cheryl, causing them to be quiet. She looked up at the FBI agent, 'CSI Cheryl Carter. Please to meet you.'

The agent looked over at her in disbelief, 'you're a CSI?'

Cheryl took a deep breath, well aware that she looked a lot younger when her hair was wet, 'yes, I am.'

'Oh!" The agent perked up, 'well, this is even better then. In which case, we want you to go undercover.'

Cheryl looked over at Horatio.

'Undercover doing what?'

'She could pass as a minor, easily. And then we could catch him in the act.'

'But he'll recognise her!' Objected Speed.

'Hair dye,' said Cheryl. 'I've always wanted to be a brunette.' She looked over at Horatio.

'It's your call,' he told her.

'Sure, when?' She told Agent Caudfield.

'Tonight.'

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**Well, guys, thanks for reading, and reviewing! It made me smile to see the reviews... so i spent the day writing, instead of watching the football - geaux tigers! Go England!**

**JACarvello - Thank you! I'm glad you like Cheryl, and the pairing. I'm really not sure if I want it to happen though. I always thought Calleigh and Speed would have gotten together if Speed hadn't have been killed off. Having said that, I never want any of the cast to get together with each other though, which makes little sense.**

**Kelleigh - hope this chapter made you a little happier. As I said, i don't know who is going to get paired up. But, I'm sorry, it wont be Calleigh and Eric. Hahaha, nah, I can't see it.**

**brittany - Here you go, was the update quick enough? Thanks for reading, glad you like it!**

**randomwriting - Again, thanks for reading. I wasn't sure about the age thing originally, myself, but there are a few gifted youngsters out there, and i wanted to go with that. I hope this chapter has cleared up more for you. As for the comedy lines, thank you! I try! I will be running with this for a while - trying to make my own little mini series, includinga cross-over or two.**

**Well, all, I'm gonna try and get the next chapter done as soon as, but i have an exam coming up soon, and I probably should study... :( but hang in there, it will be up soon - Thank you!**


	6. Chapter 6

Hours later, and Cheryl was sat in a van, her red-brown hair now blonde, (they had decided that to go blonde was a bigger change) and dressed up in smart trousers and a green, sparkly top. Agent Caudfield was busy prepping her on what was about to go down.

'We've got agents all over the club, so you'll be covered at all times. We're not going to arm you, or put a wire on you, because frankly, in what you're wearing, it would be seen instantly. Just hang around. The MO of this guy is he will find you. And remember, we want to get him with the rohypnol, if possible, too.'

Cheryl looked in the mirror she was holding. With a little help from Calleigh, she now managed to look like an eighteen year old, who was trying to look like a twenty-one year old. Between them, they'd spent a couple of hours trying to conceal the nasty bruise which had been developing on her arm, but had instead resorted to wearing sleeves. She looked over a Horatio.

'You'll be fine. If you have any problems use your cell.' He told her.

Cheryl nodded, and got out of the van. She headed to the front of one of the clubs, 'Waterfront,' and stood outside, watching the door, grateful it was a warm night. She was stood there lost in thought, thinking how this could potentially be a stupid idea, that she wasn't trained for this, and that she dealt with the 'after-the-crime' rather than the 'before-the-crime' or even, 'during-the –crime.' In fact, she was thinking of anything but Speed.

She liked the guy. A lot. But she had developed trust issues. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the person walk over to her.

'Boyfriend stood you up?'

Cheryl looked up. It was "Mark." 'Yeah, and he hasn't come through with my ID.'

'Colin.' Said the guy, offering his hand, clearly not recognising her. Cheryl took it, but instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips and kissed it.

'Lisa.'

'I can help you with that ID, if you want?'

'I don't know. What happens if my boyfriend turns up?'

'If he was coming, he would be here by now

Cheryl looked up at him and nodded.

'Okay, you wait here and I'll be back in a few minutes.'

Cheryl stood fiddling with her hair, waiting. She didn't have to wait long and he had returned with an ID. 'Lindsay Lohan?' Cheryl exclaimed. 'Is she even twenty-one herself?'

Colin looked at her, 'do you want to get in, or not? It will work, just follow me.'

Cheryl knew it would work, because the bouncers had been prepped to let her in whatever, but that wasn't the point. She couldn't believe it would have worked otherwise. She entered the club to find it heaving with many drunken people. She glanced around, trying to find anyone who looked like an FBI agent, but couldn't spot any. She assumed they were well trained in the art of 'undercover,' but it didn't make it any more reassuring.

"Colin" grabbed her hand and led her onto the dance floor. Forcing a smile to cover the pain she was feeling in her feet, she joined in, moving with the throb of the crowd. After a couple of songs, just when she thought she couldn't contain the pain any longer, he leant forward and shouted in her ear, 'wanna drink?'

Cheryl nodded and followed him to the bar, 'just water, please.'

Colin gave her a funny look and bought a beer and the infamous Cranberry Kisses. Cheryl watched him closely as he bought the drink and handed it to her. Sure she hadn't seen him slip something in it, she took a sip. It actually wasn't a bad drink. Seizing her free hand, he led her away from the bar and dance floor to a corridor Cheryl had yet to be in.

'What are we doing here?'

'Payment for the ID.'

'Oh,' said Cheryl as she settled her drink down and began rifling through her purse, pulling out a wad of notes.

'I don't want money,' he told her, leaning in.

Cheryl took a step back, 'hey, I'm not kind of girl.'

Colin chuckled, 'where are you from? You're accent is so cute.'

Cute? She hadn't heard it described like that before. 'England originally.'

'Well, Miss England, relax. All I want is a little kiss from an English girl.'

Cheryl looked over his shoulder. There was no-one around, and thus far, she hadn't seen him slip anything into her drink. 'Um, ok,' she told him hesitantly, 'so long as it's just a kiss?'

'Of course,' he reassured her as he planted his lips on hers. Cheryl closed her eyes and kissed him back, trying to imagine him as anyone else. The first person that jumped to mind was Speed. She broke away with a start.

'What's the matter, baby?'

'I'm sorry,' she said, grabbing her drink and downing it in one.

'Boyfriend?'

Cheryl nodded, the alcohol going straight to her head, 'something like that,' she told him as the room began to spin. Hadn't the doctor warned her about drinking on the antibiotics she was on? She had been watching Colin like a hawk, and she was sure her drink was clean.

She stumbled backwards and onto the fire door. The next thing she knew, she was outside in the cool air. She put her hand out against the side of the club and took a deep breath. The world was glowing slowly darker. 'I don't feel too good,' she said.

'Well I can make you feel better,' murmured Colin, placing his hands upon her breast and his mouth on hers.

Using all her remaining strength, she tried to push him off her, whilst groping in her pocket for her phone. She flipped it open and pressed dial, knowing as she did that, thanks to the incident at the ditch, the water had stopped it from working. 'No!' She told him, dropping the phone and using her hand to punch him.

It was no way near her usual strength, and it resulted in Colin slapping her across the face, before pinning her hands against the wall above her head. He didn't put anything in my drink, she thought as her pushed his tongue into her mouth.

The next thing she knew, he had been tackled off her and to the floor. Cheryl slivered down the wall and watched what was happening as though it was a slow moving movie. From nowhere, Delko had appeared and thrown himself onto Colin before getting up and helping drawing his gun. After Delko had taken a diving tackle, Horatio had appeared, his gun also drawn, but seeing that Eric had him under control, had put it away, pulled of his jacket and wrapped it around Cheryl. 'You're okay, he whispered softly, helping her to her feet. 'You're okay.' Cheryl remembered seeing the flashing blue lights and hearing the sirens fill the alley, and then she blacked out.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cheryl awoke to find herself in an unfamiliar bed, and her head feeling like someone had smacked a baseball bat against it. She opened her eyes gingerly, before shutting them straight away at the bright, clinical lights. I'm in a hospital, then, she thought. She could hear voices outside the door. It was Horatio, Eric and Speed, arguing with someone who sounded like Agent Caudfield.

'The safety of my officers comes first!' Said Horatio.

'Your officer knew what was expected of her,' replied Caudfield.

'Your men were supposed to be watching her!' Shouted Eric.

'If Eric hadn't have gotten to when he did, who knows what might have happened.' Speed was arguing.

'My agents were doing exactly what they were supposed to. It's yours that didn't.'

'Your agents are trained for this. Cheryl wasn't.'

'She knew the risks.'

'She thought the agents weren't going to leave her.' Horatio was raising his voice now. Cheryl was surprised. He didn't do that too often.

She was about to say something when she became very aware of something sticking in her arm. She shot upright and peeked at the needle in her arm. She screamed, getting the attention of the men, and grasped at her arm, 'GET IT OUT!'

Within seconds, Horatio was at her side, 'Cheryl,' he told her, 'Cheryl, calm down.'

'GET IT OUT OF ME!' She repeated, grabbing at the needle.

'Let me get a nurse,' Eric shouted.

'H, if this doesn't get out of her now, she's going to do something stupid,' Speed quickly warned him, unsuccessfully trying to calm down the hysterical Britt.

It was too late, the needle was out, and so was Cheryl from her bed. At this point, a nurse had entered the room, and seeing Cheryl in the state she was in, had produced another needle, a tranquilizer. Cheryl ran behind Speed, trying to put him between her and the needle. 'Horatio,' she squealed, 'if you don't get arid of that needle, you are about three minutes away from arresting me for murder!'

'Ma'am, it's okay,' he told the nurse; 'she doesn't like needles, that's all.'

The nurse looked at him sceptically, but left the room.

'Where are my clothes?'

'Cheryl, the doctors want you here for observation for a few more days,' said Speed.

'I am not staying in this place a moment longer. I don't care if I have to sign myself out and be suspended for a week. Where are my clothes?' She repeated.

Horatio pointed to a pile under her bed and allowed her to pull them on. Without saying a word, probably because she was still trying to get her breathing to return to normal, she stalked out of the room, and out of the hospital. She stood outside in the warm sunshine, waiting to see who would be out first. It was Horatio.

'So,' he started softly, pulling on his shades, 'home?'

Cheryl walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. 'Sorry I let you down, H.'

Horatio sat down next to her, and pulled her close to him. 'You haven't let anyone down,' he told her, as she began to cry. 'You make me so proud, and I know if either of your parents were here now, they would say the same thing.'

He held her there, sobbing into his chest, until she finally broke away, 'I'm sorry,' she repeated.

'You have nothing, nothing to apologise for.'

Cheryl smiled at him, sniffing back the last of her tears. 'My hair matches yours now,' she told him, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Horatio smiled back, 'Yelina has already put two and two together and come up with five.'

'She thinks you're my father?'

Horatio nodded.

'You really do care for her if you're letting her think that.'

Horatio only smiled softly.

'Everything is going to be alright,' Cheryl told him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She was talking about everything; their relationship, Yelina, and the case. 'What happened with Colin?' She asked, 'if that's his real name?'

''His ID was Colin Farrell, but it turns out he's teenager called Ryan, with too much time on his hands.'

'I swear he didn't put anything in my drink.' Cheryl started.

'I know,' said Horatio, 'he only supplied the IDs. He was working with one of the barmen, and it was him who was spiking the IDs. When he was told he was being arrested for attempted rape, amongst other things, he was quite anxious to talk.'

Cheryl looked up at her reflection in his sunglasses and smiled, "Hey, Horatio, why do you always wear your sunglasses?'

Horatio smiled back. 'Because it's sunny in Miami.'

'But inside?'

Horatio's smile widened, 'that, that is a secret.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Well, y'all, thanks for reading! I hope you have enjoyed the second installment in the CSI Cheryl series. (and that i don't suck too much!) I had intended on posting this sooner, but I got distracted by a) being poorly sick, and throwing up far too much, b) writing parts for later bits in the 'series', and c) studying for an exm I never ended up taking because of being sick.**

**The good news, (well, maybe bad news, depending on how you look at) is that the third enstallment is underway. Look out for 'Crash' in the very near future, if you want to see what's happening next. As a little teaser, I think I will tell you that someone ahem> Eric ahem> has been in a little accident (don't worry, he's not being killed off) and it's up to the team to figure who did it, why, and how it happened. Expect a little more drama, and the 'introduction' of a familiar Miami character.**


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